October 1st: China Marks 70 Years of Communist Rule

People's Republic of China is celebrating on October 1st, 1949, with seven decades of communist rule with a display of power through central Beijing, showing off goose-stepping troops, new missiles and floats celebrating the country’s technological prowess.

On October 1st, 1949, around 15,000 soldiers, tanks and high-tech weapons were ready to file past Tiananmen Square for an event celebrating China's journey from a country broken by war and poverty to being the world's second-largest economy.

Xi Jinping

A symbolic 70-gun salute was fired at the square and the red national flag was raised to begin festivities held under tight security, with road closures and even a ban on flying kites.

New weapons - including a hypersonic drone and an intercontinental ballistic missile whose range encompasses the United States - are expected to make their public debut among hundreds of pieces of military equipment and aircraft, according to Paris-based analysts.

Meanwhile, the Chinese defence ministry reported that the launching in Shanghai on September 25th of a massive new kind of amphibious warship helped to create a “festive atmosphere” for the country’s national-day celebrations.

But it was the missiles that were driven past China’s president, Xi Jinping, at the parade in the capital that played the starring role. By some counts, China displayed one-third of all of the intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in its inventory.